


Black Eyes

by GracieLauralee



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: AU, Abduction, Abuse, Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Demons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Angst, Anxiety, Badass, Cage Fights, Captivity, Crimes & Criminals, Dark, Demon!Brian, Demons, Dog Fighting, Drugs, Education, F/M, Friendship, Ghoul Grumps, Harm to Children, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Magical Dan Avidan, Milk, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Pixies, Plot, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protectiveness, Sad, Shapeshifting, Shifter Arin Hanson, Shifter!Dan, Supernatural Elements, Teleportation, Tension, Tigers, Trauma, Were!Arin, Were!Dan, freakshow - Freeform, it's not that bad though, pixie!Ross, shifter!arin, witch!suzy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:27:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 15,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23449999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GracieLauralee/pseuds/GracieLauralee
Summary: Magic was once a unique and mystical, impossible, fantasy that everyone imaged but never believed. That was until 50 years ago when a demon arrived on the front steps of the white house.The first five years were spent in fear, the next 10 in segregation, but with the help of a few humanitarian organizations, things progressed.Witches sold spells freely, demons became powerful business people, even fairies left the forests. However, the world still feared them, stigmatized them, and shunned them. Only putting up with them because of their skills. But it was always the worst for the shifters.While many of the major crimes committed against unnaturals were cracked down on two practices continued in secret. The rare magics trade and cage fights.-Or, Dan and Arin are weretigers born into captivity. They try to get over their similar traumas together with the help of Game Grumps.
Relationships: Arin Hanson & Ross O'Donovan, Arin Hanson & Suzy Berhow, Dan Avidan & Arin Hanson, Dan Avidan & Suzy Berhow, Suzy Berhow & Arin Hanson, ross o'donovan & suzy berhow
Comments: 7
Kudos: 24





	1. The Collection

> They were on a month-long tour in England, they had seen every big tourist trap they could find. Nothing really appealed to them so they started speaking to any person they saw who seemed interesting and asked about a more magical experience. They were directed to two sex clubs, one crack house, and eight pubs that had secret rooms containing various things. But the collection was the one they were actually intrigued by. The man on the street was definitely a human, judging by how he swore that this museum was the best, that it had so many interesting exhibits that everyone should see. The man handed them a slip of paper, some code scribbled on it and directions. He claimed this would get them in, just don't insult the owner, and you should be able to come back whenever you want. He said that every week new exhibits where added and that a new one will be added tomorrow so they will want to be aloud backed in. 
> 
>   
>  They went there immediately. Following the directions he gave them and making it there in about 20 minutes. There was a man at the gate that let them in with a nod and a glance at the paper. Then another that lead them to the huge brick house encased in trees and vines in front of them. He opened the door and said don't break anything or you'd be the next exhibit. They quickly blew it off as the dumbest joke ever said and started walking. The room was just a long, bright hall. Cameras about every ten feet the followed as they walked.
> 
>   
>  "Do you think we should go back?" The man asked, as he slowed his pace a tad and squinted to look at the end of the hall, the room appeared darker than what they were in now. She gave him a look and said that they had already come this far. She pulled on his arm to speed him up and in a minute they had made it to the next room. It was indeed darker than the last one, making them wait a moment for their eyes to adjust. It was full of skeletons of various creatures. Unicorns, dragon's teeth, Fairy wings, demons horns, and every other mythical creature they could think of held proudly in smudge-free glass cases. Even a few mutated human skeletons spattered around the large room. They both immediately felt a rush of fear and the women started to regret her decision to not leave when he asked. She then shook her hand and gave him a confident nudge and continued forward. Looking at all the exhibits, some she decided where fake and other most definitely real. When she got near the end of the room and started seeing more and more pickled body parts than skeletons a man walked in. 
> 
>   
>  He was short, thin and old, but he stood like a man that could easily kill someone with his bare hands. She assumed that he could kill someone, but In a less direct way. He wore a dark blue suit and black bow tie and moved with a slight limp but that seemed to make him even scarier. In a second the facade flew off him to revel a jubilant old man excited to show of his prize.
> 
>   
>  "Hello! I am Dr.Watt, Stewart Watt, and this is my collection!" He walked forward and shook the man's hand quickly and then scurried to the women to shake her hand as well, "I see you have already looked through the main room, that's good, it's not very exciting really. The next room is where it gets interesting!" He trotted to the end of the room and grabbed a black curtain that served as a door to the next room.
> 
>   
>  "Come along then... Oh, my apologies, what are your names?" He said as he dropped the curtain and turned to them.
> 
>   
>  "I'm Suzy and this is Ross," She said as she walked up to stand about six feet from him. Ross gave her an annoyed look but met her there.
> 
>   
>  "Well, it's very nice to meet you. Now come come!" He pulled the curtain open and lead them in.


	2. Dinner

> Suzy quickly brought a hand up to her mouth to cover the gasp as Ross just stared wide-eyed. The bright room's walls were cover in framed shifter pelts. Most of them were the intricate patterns of feline shifters. Beautiful pelts strung on the walls, most of them rare patterns she had never seen before; yellows dotted with grey spots, black coats striped with orange, even one with long fluffy marbled fur. The pelts of other shifter types were less common, a few wolf shifters and a bear pelt probably placed there to show he could get ahold of something other than felines. They looked around, trying to appear interested without actually being so, they were terrified. How could a man stomach owning these? How could one man even have all these, they didn't even know there where that many shifters in the country, let alone in this man collection. 
> 
> "I'm quite proud of these, it took quite a while to build this up! I have been searching the world all my life for the rarest of patterns and these are the ones that I dared pay for and have shipped over," He said proudly as he ran a hand over the glass of the only white pelt, "This was my a first one, I found her in India, she may not be the rarest but she started it all," He gave the glass a tap and turned to look at them expectantly. 
> 
> "I'm... in awe, half of these patterns are extinct and I've never seen the other half before," She exclaimed breathlessly as she turned to him.
> 
> "That's a good eye you have, nowadays I have a special breeder who ships me the creme of the crop, if you will. That ensures I only get the best, but it's rare to come across one worthy enough to be displayed in here. I'm hoping tomorrow's shipment will be worth it," He gave the room one last content sigh before he turned to the next door. This one was metal, "The best is yet to come," He clicked a few buttons next to the door and it opened slowly. They followed him after a second thought, they couldn't just run away or he might send the guards after them. They had to see this through.
> 
> The room was well lit. About 6 foot wide by 20-foot long hallway, a white wall at the end and floor to ceiling glass on either side. On the other side of the glass is what appeared to be encloursour. Like what you would see in a zoo. Both caged where Identical; onyx rock walls with climbing spots, a cave protruding from the back with one fake tree on it and another in front of it, dirt floors, and a small body of water in the corner that was moving like it was being filtered by something. The cages where also lit well but they couldn't see anything in them. He walked to the cage on the left side and knocked on the glass, nothing happened. He knocked a bit harder as he looked to the back of the cage, about 15 feet away.
> 
> "We only have one resident at the moment, but he's quite reclusive," He seemed a bit embarrassed as his cheeks reddened and he huffed as he clicked a button on the right side of the glass, it realized a buzz and he looked back at them, "He hasn't been feed in a week so he should come out when I call in his dinner," He said with a small smile as he went to stand beside them in the middle of the window.
> 
> "You said you haven't feed him for days?" Ross asked the first thing he's said since the Dr.Watt started his tour.
> 
> "He nearly killed one of my handlers when he went in to clean the cage so we had to punish him," He said with a nod 
> 
> "Wouldn't that have been the handler's fault, going in with him in there," Suzy asked. She didn't fear shifters at all, and now that she's heard everything this cruel man had to say she was sure she was going to get him out of here, but what idiot would just waltz into a cage with an angry feline in it.
> 
> "He's amazingly good at blending in, as you can tell, and he thought he was looked in his den. The handlers fine now, fired, but fine," He said with a small laugh. Suzy echoed it only to get more on his good graces. A loud buzz sounded.
> 
> "Ah, here's dinner!" Said Dr.Watt as he knocked on the glass a few times more. A small slot on the right side of the cage shot open and a goat raced out as it closed behind him. He ran around the cage a few times before pushing himself against the glass and standing frozen. Suzy and Ross paled as they watched the small animal cower in front of them. They had heard of shifters eating raw meat, but never of one that only subsists of killing its prey. Ross and Suzy were going to get him out of here, but what would he be like when he was freed?


	3. Eyes

> The goat stood in front of them, as Ross slowly linked his hand with Suzys. Usually, she would pull away, but she just gripped it tighter. The goat seemed to sense the danger even though even in the small enclosure it was nowhere to be seen. Its head flicked around along with its ears as it pawed at the ground, there was nowhere for it to go. Suddenly a black shadow jumped down from one of the climbing steps and appears on the goat. Tearing at it's neck as it held it down with one massive paw. It was over in less than a second and Ross and Suzy where left stunned as they stared into the shifter's eyes.
> 
> He was phenomenal. Not for his fur color, as they came to expect from the man's collection, but for his species. It wasn't a tiger shifter, or a leopard, or even a cheetah. It wasn't a pure breed. He was bigger than a tiger but much sleeker and agile, his legs where long like a cheetah but his paws were large and strong like a lion. But all of that combined was nothing compared to his eyes. All feline's eyes were blue, or green, or gold, and they all were beautiful but they were always bright. His were pure black, like every other part of his body. The only parts that weren't black were his teeth, which were now dyed a dark red, and a thin scar that ran from just above his left eye up to his ear leaving a triangle-shaped clip from the top of it. Something about the darkness made it hard to see him, like he was just a shadow gliding along. But, right now, with a goat dangling from his jaws he was hard to miss. He gave one last chop to his neck, which gave a crunch even through the glass, and that carried it on top of the cave like it weighed nothing and began eating it.
> 
> "Magnificent, isn't he?" Dr.Watt asked as he watched him with pride, "I found him five years ago by happenstance as I was visiting a fighting ring. I usually don't even glance twice at mutts like him but he was just so majestic in the ring. At the end of the match, the owner sold him off to the highest bidder and in the heat of the moment I bought him up. His last owner said that he was a champion, from a long line of fighters imported from overseas. He had never lost a fight. I was going to trade him for a better-looking feline, a cheetah maybe, but I just couldn't let him go. I love having such a wild feline here, it's so different than those show cats I keep in the other cage before I skin them. Like a pet."
> 
> "So you just look at him all day?" Suzy asked. She was disgusted by him. He was just an evil power-hungry little man who enjoyed making another human feel like nothing more than an animal for his amusement. He liked to feel the power that came with containing someone much stronger than him and making them feel small.
> 
> "I was going to get a pelt made of him when he died for my personal collection, but for now I just watch him. Once a month, though, I enter him in a match. It keeps him from getting too domesticated, and he's quite a legend among the fighting community. It's amusing to watch the competition get nervous around him, but I've never been able to get into it much my self,"
> 
> When Suzy looked back at the cage he was watching her. Large black eyes focused on her's, at that moment he seemed so sad. He was strong and vicious, but he was also scared and abused. Judging from what he said he must have lived in a cage his whole life, only ever let out to fight another shifter. At that, Suzy felt not only disgusted and angry at Dr.Watt, but profoundly sorry for the feline. She made her decision.
> 
> "I heard you were getting a new exhibit tomorrow?" Suzy said as she looked back to Dr.Watt.
> 
> "Why, yes, I am. A white tiger with unusual striping," He said proudly, "He'll be going in that cage right there tomorrow at 1," He pointed to the cage on. the right wall.
> 
> "Ross and I would love to come back and see him when he arrives," 


	4. New Arrival

Dr.Watt agreed that they could be the first people to see the new arrival on a private tour. All Ross and Suzy had to do now were come up with a plan on how to get them out.

"How are we even supposed to know he won't attack us, he attacked that handler," Ross asked 

"He won't, he's not an animal, no matter how much that asshole makes him seem like one. He'll know that we are trying to help him," She responded with a firm not.

"But what about us, I hear witch hair and pixie dust is pretty fuckin' sought after right now," Ross said as he stood from the table and grabbed some milk from the fridge.

"For one, you of all people should know pixie dust isn't real, and secondly he won't be able to hurt me. No matter how many shifters he's bought and caged he's still just an old man with a god complex. All you have to do is break the glass and run outside, at that point well have two feline shifters to protect us,"

Ross sighed out as he sipped his milk. He really didn't think this was a good idea, they could go back and get Brian. He'd be able to get them out with a flick of his hand. But now they have to spend an extra day in Britain to save some random cats.

"Don't forget Ross, human emotion. If you treat people like equals they won't treat you like the evil pixie that you are," Suzy said with a laugh as she patted his head. Ross gave one loud ha, then chugged his milk.

* * *

Dr.Watt seemed exceptionally happy to see them as he pulled them thought the first few exhibits, waving off guards as he quickly guided them through the halls. 

"This new tiger is exceptional, better than I expected," He kept saying things like that as he went, saying how excited he was to get him skinned after he got him healthy and his fur as nice as possible. It was really weird. With one final flourish, he pushed them into the enclosure room to show of the new exhibit. He seemed terrified, more terrified than he was beautiful. He was definitely a pure breed tiger, every feature and proportion perfect for the species. He was all white with golden stripes and golden eyes, another one of a kind shifter that this Doctor was planning on killing. He was pacing the cage looking around frantically and pawing at the black color that was strapped tightly around his neck.

"He sure is beautiful, which is one of the many, many reasons that I'm going to do this... Ross," Suzy said as Ross reached his hand forward and tapped that glass, it shattering on contact and falling with a crash onto the floor. The tiger jumped back, cowering for a moment before Suzy featured for him to come to her. With one last glance, he jumped forward and ran to the metal door jumping and hitting it as he tried to get it to break open. 

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE! WHAT I PAID FOR HIM!" He yelled as he ran toward Ross, tripping and falling as he went.

"No, I wonder how much you paid for this?" She said as Ross shattered the glass that kept the other feline locked in. Once again he was nowhere to be seen before he decided to pounce. He landed atop the old man his black eyes staring as everything in the room seemed to freeze for a moment. Suzy was sure he was going to kill him, and she was going to let him. But then he roared, his vocal cords where definitely all lion at least. The sound echoing throughout the small room as the old man yelled and screamed in fear. The feline put one paw on him and held him down. Growling and staring at him with eyes that clearly said he wanted to kill him until Ross busted the metal door down. He pounced out, jumping over the white tiger and running at top speed as everyone dashed after him. When they finally caught up with him three guards were knocked out and the Feline was looking around nervously. Sniffing that air as he waited. Suzy rain past him and pulled the door of the rental car open gesturing for him to jump in.


	5. Perfect Plan

> The thing about tigers is is that they're big. The largest of all the felines, making them the most sought after. The bigger the tiger the better the fighter, the more expensive the pelt. That is why Ross and Suzy were now thanking all the various gods that the rental car service only had vans left. They had flipped all the back seats down to make more room for their new (huge, at least 700 pounds each even with the black one being noticeably underweight) guests and they were now halfway to the hotel. They were also thanking the deities that they had gotten a hotel with outdoor entrances to the rooms. And since their highly thought out plan was now finished they had to start vase two.
> 
> "What do we do now?" Ross asked as he looks into the back seat and quickly looked back onto the road, "He's staring at me Suzy,"
> 
> "You were staring at him too, Ross," Suzy said with a sigh.
> 
> "But my kind aren't known for eating people," He said with a huff.
> 
> "No, they're known for being kind and gentle orange-sized idiots," She looked at Ross, "I don't see any kindly orange,"
> 
> "What the heck is that supposed to mean,"
> 
> "But I do see an Idiot," She finished as a couple of chuffs sounded from the white tiger, "Somone thought it was funny," She giggles. Ross glared at the both of them than paused for a second.
> 
> "Why don't you two change to human form?" Ross asked, and now that he mentioned it, Suzy thought, why hadn't they. She looked in the back as well to meet the large black eyes of her damsel in distress. He stared at her for a moment then went back to looking out the window and growling at the white tiger when he got to close. She changed her sights to the white tiger, he seemed a little bit more open to questioning at least. He scratched at the black collar on his neck. She glanced at the other feline, low and behold he also had a color around his neck, albeit on that blended in very well.
> 
> "We're a second away from the hotel, we'll take them off when we get inside," Suzy said. 
> 
> "We didn't bring clothes for you anyway, so that's probably best," Ross said with a chuckle as he pointed out the next flaw in their perfect plan.


	6. Collar

> Both felines sat on separates beds, the black one refusing to look away from the window as the white one continuously made noises and chuffs as he glanced around the room.
> 
> "You have to be quiet, the neighbors might hear you," Suzy said apologetic, "and stay still, I can't get it off if you keep moving," She continued as she tried to pry the color of. It needed a key that they didn't have. They had decided that it would be smarter to take the white tiger's color off first for no other reason than Ross was considerably more terrified of the other feline. Suzy blew out some air in frustration as another piece of metal broke in the lock.
> 
> "Just come over here and use your mischief powers and break the lock, Ross!" Suzy exclaimed.
> 
> "What if he bites me?!" Ross said. Suzy swears she sees the White tiger's eyes roll at that one.
> 
> "He won't bite you, but I might if you don't take the collar off!" She bluffed. Ross sighed and began creeping forward from the bathroom door. He stopped when he was about a foot away and stared the tiger in his golden eyes until the tiger looked away and gave him better access to the lock. In that moment Ross reached over and tapped it with a finger before quickly pulling back, it broke in half in a less than a second and he was free. The tiger shook his fur out and stood, jumping off the bed.
> 
> "Ross' luggage is in the bathroom, go in there and change. Hopefully, something of his will fit you," Suzy said. The tiger nodded and trotted of, closing the bathroom door with a paw. A few cracks followed, something that made both Suzy and Ross cringe, then the sounds of rummaging occurred. In a minute a tall man, more than six foot, stepped out of the bathroom. He was wearing some basketball shorts and a grey T-shirt that was too big for Ross but a tad too small for him. He seemed extremely uncomfortable.
> 
> "Hello," He said, adding a small wave to the end before running the other through his hair. It was shoulder length and brown with a golden streak running through it. It wasn't uncommon for shifter's to have holdovers from their other forms so they weren't very shocked by it.
> 
> "Hi, I'm Suzy," She said with a smile.
> 
> "I heard," He laughed a little, "And I'm Arin,"
> 
> "I'm Ross," He squeaked from the corner that he had now taken up residence in. It was just a coincidence that it was the farthest he could be from the black feline.
> 
> "Dude, he's not gonna eat ya," Arin said as he sat down on the couch, "If anything I should be scared," Suzy was confused by that just for a moment, before remembering why. He's a fighting feline, he'd probably never had a good experience with another shifter. She didn't blame Arin for being nervous of him. She glanced at the feline, he was still looking out the window, he'd shifted closer to it went they weren't paying attention, and looked like he was ignoring them.
> 
> "Could you take his collar off now, too," Suzy asked, he seemed adamant about staying in his corner, "Please... That'll be the last thing you have to do... I'll let you prank Brian," She negotiated.
> 
> "Brian?" Ross asked
> 
> "Only if you don't implicate me, you can do whatever you please. Just don't die doing it," Suzy said with a smile. It worked. He walked out from his corner to the feline's bed and stood, waiting for the feline to acknowledge him.
> 
> "Hello," Ross said as quietly as he possibly could, "If you don't mind, I'm going to break your collar," He took a step forward, but the feline was still too far away.
> 
> "Um-" The big cat stood and soundly walked to the edge of the bed, Ross frozen in place as he sat down right in front of him and turned his head so he could break it. Ross hesitated only a second before snapping it off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've made Ross a Pixie in this fic only because I thought it was funny. The made problem with pixies, though, is that the only data online about what they do is 'Steal horses and tangle their manes before returning them'. Surprisingly, I decided that didn't really fit his character so I've made them more of a secret species with a lot of different variations and powers. Ross' power is the Mischief variety that allows him to give bad luck to whatever he touches. Meaning he could shatter glass or break metal locks with a touch if he wanted, it just doesn't work on people.


	7. Dan and Arin

> The fur under his collar was short and patchy, the skin under easily seen. He'd had that collar a long time. He shook his fur out gracefully hopping off the bed and gliding into the bathroom. 
> 
> "He is so much freaking cooler than me," Arin said after a second, his words effectively covering up the cracks and breaking that sounded from the bathroom. Suzy laughed at his comment, allowing the distraction from her pity of them. The longer the shifter stays in one form the harder it is for them change back, it would take him a minute.
> 
> "Is he? You both seem pretty badass," Suzy said with a smile.
> 
> "You flatter me, Miss.Suzy. If I'm badass, he's the fricken Emperor of Mars," Arin said.
> 
> "That makes no sense," Suzy said, quirking her eyebrow.
> 
> "Precisely," He confirmed.
> 
> "Have you spoken to him, before we got there I mean," Suzy asked as she sat down on the other side of the bed, about three feet from Arin.
> 
> "I was kinda... spooked," Arin said, looking away, "I didn't even really notice he was there until just before you arrived, he's a tad elusive,
> 
> "Yeah, that's what I noticed too," He Suzy said with a sigh, "This must be a pretty exciting day for you?" Suzy asked as Arin's downtrodden mood seemed to immediately disappear.
> 
> "Yeah, I wasn't expecting a jail brake an hour after my imprisonment. Thanks for that, by the way," Arin said with a smile.
> 
> "Our pleasure. It was a bit of a lucky break in both our cases, we were just touring when we heard of Watt's... exhibit," She furrowed he brow, it was her turn to look away, "We went to check it out and then figured out what it was... we couldn't just let you two... We decided to help,"
> 
> "I didn't think you were going to come back," said a new voice that they all jumped at the sudden presence of. It was a tad raspy from underuse, but they definitely caught the extreme gratitude running through it. They all turned to look and there stood the other feline. He was the same height as Arin, but much thinner (too thin) under his sweatpants and too-short shirt, and also sporting shoulder-length hair. It was dark brown and very curly. His eyes were dark too, black pools that seemed to stare into your soul just as well as his feline's did. He was leaning on the frame, obviously unsteady, be it from the lack of good food or the shock of being back in two-wheel drive instead of four was anybody's guess.
> 
> "We did. No matter how much Ross griped about," Suzy said, Ross glared from his corner.
> 
> "Thank you," He said, Nodding to them, "Both of you. No matter how much one of you, not pointing any fingers, is being totally shifter racist. I'm not interested in eating small orange sized idiots, thank you very much," He said with a huff before he went to sit on the other bed, walking with just a slight wobble as he gave Arin a wide birth. He didn't seem scared of him, at all, just... cautious. They all stared in shock, they did not expect him to make a joke about it. He sat down on the bed, once again facing out the window.
> 
> "I'm Dan by the way," He said, turning back with a smile before looking back to the streets.


	8. Escape

> He acted a lot differently than they expected. Suzy thought he would be as timid as a mouse, and Ross was sure he was going to immediately... he didn't know. But he was sure he would do something! The only one that wasn't surprised was Arin, he just seemed a bit relieved. Right now the feline, Dan, was contently staring out the window. Without the fascination with outside, black eyes, and a scar running up from his eyes brow and to his ear (and the other obvious evidence) Suzy would have been convinced this was a different shifter. He was just too... normal. It made sense for Arin to be so kind, he was a show feline, definitely cared for and not locked in a small cage and fought his whole life. But really it was a blessing, if not a defense mechanism, that Dan was so calm and that Suzy was grateful for right now. They needed to get out of here before the police come knocking on their door and it would be easier with participants that weren't having emotional breakdowns.
> 
> "We should get moving," Suzy said standing up, Ross uttering a thank god as he rushed to the bathroom to pack his stuff.
> 
> "Did you guys really have to throw my clothes everywhere," Ross called out.
> 
> "No," Arin said.
> 
> "But we did it anyways," Dan continued, shocking Arin before he smiled and laughed. Less from the humor, more from the unexpectedness of it.
> 
> "Great, I don't have to deal with giant cats eating me but I do have to deal with two minor pranksters. I'm the one who pranks in this relationship, I tell you!" Ross said, his voicing rising in pitch, but he seemed to have worn himself out by the end since he stopped.
> 
> Arin shook his head at the bathroom door, a definite 'that's my savior?' kinda feel to it before asking, "How are we leaving, and to where, and why?"
> 
> "We're going to California because Watt is probably searching for us right now," Suzy smirked, "The how is much more interesting, however," She pulled a rug out from the middle of the floor, revealing an etched four-foot circle covered in runes.
> 
> "Heck yeah," Arin said pumping a fist, "Witches are so freaking badass,"
> 
> "More badass than me, Emperor of Mars?" Dan asked as he stood. Arin immediately flushed.
> 
> "You heard that?" He asked.
> 
> "I'm not deaf," Dan laughed out, "It's fine though, I am pretty dang cool," Arin chuckled as he also stood, albeit staying far away from Dan.
> 
> Ross ran from the bathroom, carrying four hastily packet suitcases and dropping them in the circle, "Let's go," He commanded excitedly as he jumped in as well. Suzy stared him down for a second before explaining
> 
> "Everyone just needs to stand in the circle and I'll teleport us," Suzy said.
> 
> "All of us?" Dan said, he shot a quick glance to the circle than Arin before taking the smallest of steps back (there's that timid shifter she was expecting).
> 
> That's when the pounding on the door started.
> 
> .


	9. Clock

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed one thing in the last chapter. I changed 'Sirens' to 'pounding on the door'. Because dude, why would a criminal who just got his contraband stolen call the police?! He would use his armed goons to get it back!! I just don't think sometimes.
> 
> So no SIRENS ONLY GOONS at the door.
> 
> Also, I went through the whole thing and fixed some typos. I'll try doing better on that from now on, I promise!
> 
> !!!!!Thanks for reading!!!!!!

> "How could they have found us!" Ross asked, as the hitting at the door continued.
> 
> "YOU HAVE 30 SECONDS TO RETURN THE STOLEN PROPERTY!" 
> 
> "Property? Harsh man," Arin whispered, he didn't seemed bothered, "And it was probably the collars, GPS is pretty nice,"
> 
> **"25 SECONDS"**
> 
> "Dan, I undertand that you might have problems with being near him, but right now we don't have a choice," Suzy said. His black eyes went to her, the same sadness she saw when she decided to save him still hung.
> 
> "I understand that we don't have a choice, doesn't mean the rest of me does," he was figiting now, watching the door, watching Arin. He was trapped. He figited more, not quite a shake yet, but getting there.
> 
> "I'll turn around, close my eyes, whatever. It's all cool, we just need to be in the circle," Arin said, calmly, Ross was freaking out for the both of them as Arin pulled him into the circle. Suzy followed.
> 
> **"15 SECONDS"**
> 
> "It's not you, I'm not scared of you," Dan muttered, "You're kind... I'm not,"
> 
> "You're scared you'll hurt him," Suzy muttered in relaztion, "You won't, just close you're eyes, count backwards, do anything to not think about him. And if you did hurt him, it won't matter, at least you won't be back there," That seemed to give him the push he needed.
> 
> **"5 SECONDS"**
> 
> He took a step forward.
> 
> **"4 SECONDS"**
> 
> He took another. He was staring down Suzy, black eye getting darker.
> 
> **"3 SECONDS"**
> 
> He was almost there, black slowly spreading over white. His iris taking over just a tad more than it should with each step.
> 
> **"2 SECONDS"**
> 
> Dan took the last step, his eyes nearly all black. Like an oil spill. The door slammed open, a flash of white light blinded the room and they where gone, back in California, as Watt followed his men into the room and stared down a collar.


	10. Haven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!HOW THE PORTALS WORK!!!
> 
> Basically witches are a very close-knit yet very distant people. They rely on one another for trade and transport, but they don't hang out often. So with this, each major city has a few places that have portals carved into it, but they do have to pay to stay there. Like a hotel room, but you magically arrive there. So Suzy rented that magic portal for the week, they gave her it's name so she could jump there and changed it when she left so she couldn't stay for free later. Suzy has her own portal with a name, but no one knows it so no one will magically appear in her house all the time.

> The second the spell was over Dan nearly tripped over himself as he walked away backward, impossible different from his feline form. Arin had taken a step back as well, but he just hit against a wall before he had a chance to trip. Suzy rushed over to Dan but stopped a few feet short, closeness probably would be the worst thing right now. 
> 
> "I'm good, just give me a second," Dan muttered, the darkness of his eye persisting. He looked around for a moment then dropped onto the blue couch in the room, curling into himself a bit as he closed his eyes. Suzy watched for a moment then nodded. He would be fine, he just needed to calm down. She would have preferred that she didn't force him to do that, but they had no other choice. They would have to deal with the hamper it would but in his readjustment later. Arin was slinking against the wall, slowly making his way farther from Dan and closer to the fridge. He looked like he thought he was being the sneakiest thing in the world as both Suzy and Ross watched. 
> 
> "If you're hungry, just ask," Suzy said with a chuckle, Arin jumped and tried to look innocent. She hopped over to the kitchen, her living room, and kitchen where connected, but it was a smaller room. Everything about her house could be described at small, or perhaps cozy if you wanted to be kind. I'd never been a problem. She'd never had so many people over at once and she was just realizing how only having two stools at her counter made it difficult to have company. Whatever, someone could sit on the other couch, they won't spill. She glanced at Ross, probably won't spill. "What do you want," She glanced at him. Arin seemed immediately put off by that, glancing at her nervously.
> 
> "How about a ham sandwich?" Arin nodded in sudden relive as he slid onto one of the stools, "Dan, do you want one?" His only response was the barest of glances and a slight nod. The black was receding, Suzy smiled a little. So far so good at least. The sandwiches were done in less than three minutes and in the meantime, Ross had made self a cheese sandwich as Suzy just grimaced at him. She once asked Ross why he liked cheese so much, she thought pixies where all about cream and sugar, he told her they liked all dairy. She accepted it as a gift, it was easier to keep him from destroying the house or the office if you could bribe him with easy to get things. Like milk and cheese curds.
> 
> "Here ya go," Suzy said as she slides the plate on the counter up to Arin. He stared at it just for a moment.
> 
> "Thanks," He said with a smile and picked it up to dig in. Then she turned her sights to Dan.
> 
> Dan was looking more like himself, even though they had only known him for less than a half-hour, and was now gazing out the window that faced the suburb and tree line the protected the front yard from the road. That was the best thing about her house, the yard space. Now that she had two felines living in it she was incredibly thankful she turned down the nice loft downtown for the secluded little bungalow with the backyard privacy-fence. Of course, she had no grass or outdoor plants but who needs hand-grown herbs when you could have 7,000 square feet of enclosed gravel and trees? Not a witch who burns through magical plants like a freaking Californian summer burns water, that's for sure. She held the plate with the sandwich, slowly walking towards Dan. Her steps where definitely loud enough that he could hear her, but he didn't look away from the window.
> 
> "Dan?" He tore his gaze away, eyes much lighter, she smiled, "Here," She held it out to him and he took it gingerly. She sat down on the other couch, her own sandwich in hand, next Ross. Arin had swiveled around in his chair to face the living room and was munching on some chips she had dumped onto the plate as well. She watched Dan eye the sandwich on his lap as his eye grew more reflective. He looked like he was about to cry, yet he stayed perfectly calm otherwise.
> 
> "You okay, buddy?" Suzy asked, leaning forward yet still keeping a good distance.
> 
> "It's just been a while," He said as he picked up the sandwich.
> 
> "Since what?" Ross asked, as finished of his cheese sandwich.
> 
> "Since someone's... given me real food," The goat. The Goat. Suzy got a flashback of Dan, teeth bloodied as he tore a little goat apart in the cage. He hadn't eaten human food in years. Just the sporadic goats, or whatever other animals that egomaniacal manic feed him. He hadn't eaten food that he hadn't had to kill for a long time and she just handed him a ham sandwich. Heck of a first free meal. Ross seemed to have come to the same conclusion as Suzy since he slowly leaned back into the couch cushion. Dan took a bite of the sandwich and ate quietly, seeming to reverie every bite like it was godly bread.
> 
> "I'm missing something," Arin said as he set the plate on the counter behind him, "Please don't tell me Watt was feeding you, and by extension eventually me, dog food," He groaned.
> 
> "I think he would have gone with cat food, he was that kind of douch, but no... Dude, you got so lucky," Dan's sadness left, or maybe was temporarily covered, as he chuckled, "You would have had no idea what to do," He laughed a little louder.
> 
> "What was it? Tell me, I got to know?! Duck? Grass? Human, the most dangerous game?" Arin said, has he pleaded with puppy dog eyes.
> 
> "I would not call human the most dangerous game," Dan said still laughing, "Man, you're a tiger, biggest of the big cats. You're the most dangerous game,"
> 
> "Fine, don't tell," Arin said, as he turned around, glancing once behind his shoulder with sadness in his eyes, before looking back forward like some kinda sope opera, "I didn't want to know anyway," He was pouting like a child who's mom said he can't have a pet hamster, but it was so obviously fake.
> 
> "You are not doing that," Dan said as he chuckled, "You don't want to know. It's really gross," Arin swiveled back around quickly
> 
> "How gross are we talking? Elephant turd gross or hippo turd gross," He seemed extremely scholarly as he asked.
> 
> "Defenantly Hippo," Dan nodded seriously than looked back to Arin with a quirked brow, "What did they feed you?"
> 
> "Hamburgers and stuff like that, protein things," He said off handily, "But I'm guessing they didn't give you stuff like that," Dan sighed loudly. 
> 
> "You won't like this much then... they feed me," He looked Arin in the eyes once, before looking away, checking for something, "Little farm animals,"
> 
> "Like goats and sheep," Arin asked Dan nodded, "Live ones," Dan nodded again. 
> 
> "How'd you do that?" Arin was more intrigued than disgusted, in fact, he didn't seem grossed out at all. Dan gave him a look.
> 
> "How'd you think I did it?" Dan asked, leaning on his chin on his fist and taking a bite of the sandwich.
> 
> "You're right, dumb question, I'll think of another," He sat for a moment, thinking as everyone watched on in their own proportions of shock and amusement, "How'd it taste?" Dan looked away, now also thinking. He stared out the window, and Suzy started really wondering about his obsession with it.
> 
> "Copper," He said, "Not super appetizing, I mind you, but... food is food," He took another bite of the sandwich.


	11. Problem

"That's intense man..." Arin said, "I'm not sure I could have done it. I probably would have befriended the goat first,"

Dan sighed, taking a small bite of the sandwich, "I thought that too," He looked like he was about to say more when he suddenly just threw up on the hardwood floor. It wasn't very much, probably half a ham sandwich.

"Gross," Ross said quickly, pulling his feet onto the couch, Suzy slapped his arm and stood. She trotted to the kitchen to grab cleaning stuff as she spoke.

"Are you okay Dan?" She said worriedly, as she dampened a washcloth, "Do you want something to drink,"

"I think I'm fine," He seemed a tad stunned, "Water would be nice,"

"Why'd you throw up?" Arin questioned.

"I'm not sure," Dan replied, quirky an eyebrow, as Suzy started cleaning after handing him a glass, "I can clean it, it was my fault,"

"No, it's mine. I didn't think it through," She sighed, "It was either because you haven't eaten processed food in a while, or because you're not in your feline form. I should have known it would make you sick,"

"What do you mean? He has to go back to eating goat?" Ross squeaked out. Dan seemed to pale a little, but that might have just been because he had thrown up a moment ago.

"Of course not. If it is because it's too processed we'll just have you eat raw things. Like sushi or rare steak, and go from there. If it's because of you're feline form we'll have you eat a small course as a human than a larger one in your feline form to make sure your eating enough. We'll work you up to only eating as a human," She said assuredly as she finished cleaning the mess and dumped the cloth in the trash.

"You've really thought that threw," Arin said in slight awe.

"It might not work, if it doesn't we could bring him to the doctor," Dan's eyed flicked to her's, "But I don't think it will come to that. At dinner we'll test to see if it was because of the food or your from (or both), but for now, I think it might be best If I showed you around the rest of the house,"


	12. Witch's Lair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a really simple floor plan of her house. I'm not sure if it will work. If it does, that is what that picture is.
> 
> It also turns out I'm very bad at describing spaces, so just bear with me through this.
> 
> https://d3jt1cz8miaxw8.cloudfront.net/exports/2d/b9c9632f-7e43-45f5-843a-ee10081a3a53/78900663-suzys-first_floor-first_design-20200528035813.jpg

Suzy's house layout.

"Don't worry, my house is small. It'll take about three seconds to show you all the rooms you need to know," She stood and walked to the middle of the room, an area between the kitchen and the living room, she pointed forward, "That's the front door, right now Dan you're in the living room and Arin's in the kitchen. Arin, you can help yourself to food whenever you want. Dan, once we find out what you can eat you can do the same," Arin nodded at her and Dan looked away but nodded, "The door behind the couch is the bathroom," She pointed it out then waved for them to follow her as she walked through an archway out of the room. Arin stood up from the stool, Ross scampered in front of them, going through the large archway into the other room before Arin had a chance to. Dan got up, but stayed in the first room, leaning again the archway and looking around the new room after Arin had walked into it.

"This is my Witchcraft room," It was completely different. The entrance room was pristine, all white and grey with blue couches. Pops of colors throughout in the form of little plants and books, precisely angled so it seemed like the home was lived in while still being perfect and clean. It was almost an impossible difference from the Witchcraft room. This one was about half the size but it had about five times the items. The walls were lined with bookshelf, rugs with various magical circles painted on them piled on the ground, glowing crystals lit the room (most of them on shelves but some of them floating or hanging from the ceiling on ropes), books towered precariously on the table, two empty cauldrons haphazardly set in a corner, three different plants that no herbologist would know that name sitting against the window (Suzy had a magical watering system that conjures a small cloud above them when she was gone), an empty birdcage next to them with its metal door open, bottles of various sizes strewn around wildly yet labeled precisely, and dozens of other small details that would take hours to find and hours more to figure out what they where. It was really quite beautiful though, the small room lit delicately by the crystals and brightened by the books and plants. It was the picture of organized chaos, "Be careful in here, nothing dangerous as it is, but mix the wrong things or read the wrong book... well you might just accidentally summon a Pixie from Australia who won't leave," Suzy turned to glare at Ross.

"I like it here in California, and the U.S has the best rights for unnaturals," He murmured sheepishly, "Australia is still dealing with hunters and all that," Suzy's eyes softened some.

"He's actually right about that. Most countries don't have laws protecting us and the ones who do, Australia for example, don't enforce them as they should. The U.S is different, at least in California. There are still some bad people, but no one is going to do anything to hurt us and the shif- the you know, it's not as... popular around here," She nodded at them, reassuring them of there safety here. Most people in this state didn't care for things like that, California was sometimes even considered a heaven for the unnaturals, which is why she and her friends lived there, "About %1 of people in California are Unnaturals, albeit, not many are shifters but... it's a good place to be. No one will hurt you here," Both Dan, who had taken up looking outside the large glass french doors that lead into her backward, and Arin, who was looking through her books, looked at her seriously. Suzy had noticed how calm they were, how at ease they had been. She had assumed when she deiced to save them they would be timid and maybe even a tad feral. But she had been wrong, they were to used to change and people moving them around to be freaked out about this. But her saying this might have just snapped everything into perspective for them. They were not going to be hurt again. She wasn't going to do anything to them, and she would do everything in her power to prevent them from getting harmed.

"Thanks for getting us out of there," Arin murmured solemnly, a complete change from his usual joking self, as he slid a book back into a shelf, "I would have been dead in a week if you hadn't arrived,"

"Yea," Dan said from just outside the room, "Thank you," Dan nodded at her then gave a small smile to Ross, who still seemed scared of him but smiled back.

Suzy felt like she was going to cry, this was probably the best thing she had ever done and it was just a whim. She had saved two lives on her trip to England to pick up a few rare potions and give Ross a tour of the outside world. Now she was giving a tour to two shifters, the rarest type of supernatural creature , and trying to figure out how she could rehabilitate them. Suzy wiped her eyes then clapped her hand together softly in attempt to change the subject.

"So," Suzy said, everyone seemed to snap out of their momentary melancholy, "Back to the tour,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOU DON'T HAVE TO READ THIS, BUT IT MIGHT HELP THINGS MAKE MORE SENCE.
> 
> How many unnaturals (what magical creatures are called) are there? About 1 million.
> 
> Most of the unnaturals are witches. Making up about %35 (350,000)
> 
> The second is the Demons. At %29 (290,000)
> 
> The third is the Fairies and Pixies (they are basically the same thing in this world but fairies still mostly live in the woods and pixies separate into two subclasses, Destruction and creation), . At %15 (150,000)
> 
> The Fourth is the Forest creatures, which are just animals (Unicorns, kitsunes and all the other crazy things you can think of). At %10 (100,000)
> 
> Then there are the Psychics, which are basically witches but with only one power (like over fire, or nature, or tech, or cows while witches can learn spells and Direct their magic where ever they want). At %10 (100,000)
> 
> Then the sixth is the shifters. At %1 (10,000)  
> -  
> There is more than one kind of shifter. Bear shifters at %10 (1000), Canine shifter at %70 (7000), Feline at %20 (2000),
> 
> About %30 of shifters are born in captivity and %40 have fought (they get kidnapped alot). Meaning about 4000 shifters are locked up. Most stay there their whole lives because Laws supporting unnaturals, shifters specifically, are very lax and the trading and fighting rings are very well hidden. Some countries even promote discrimination against shifters.
> 
> Feline shifters are the most sought after because they are the most skilled fighters and have the most diverse pelts. They used to be the least common type, but due to them being more popular more of them where born in captivity and such. But most of them are still in captivity, about %80 (1600), so it is really uncommon to see them.
> 
> %10 (1000) of all shifters (and %40 of all unnaturals, 400,000) live in California due to its acceptance of unnaturals. 
> 
> -
> 
> BUT LET IT BE KNOWN THAT THESE ARE THE REAL NUMBERS, BOOKS AND STUFF IN THE WORLD WILL SAY THAT ALMOST NO SHIFTERS ARE IN CAPTIVITY, THAT THEY ARE JUST RARE. they basically say there are only about 100 feline shifters left and stuff so that is why Ross and Suzy were so shocked to find Dan and Arin and see all those pelts.


	13. Cinderella

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> https://d3jt1cz8miaxw8.cloudfront.net/exports/2d/b9c9632f-7e43-45f5-843a-ee10081a3a53/78900663-suzys-first_floor-first_design-20200528035813.jpg
> 
> The layout again

Suzy pointed to the French doors that lead to the back of the house. It looked like a small forest if forests commonly had gravel instead of dirt and grass floors. It was filled with trees of varying heights that made it seem like you had just left California and steeped into the woods. From this angle, you could barely tell it was fenced in, due to the vines covering the 10ft fence. The forestness may or may not be due to a spell gone wrong that made fast-growing trees that just wouldn't allow themselves to be thinned out. There was also a nice little patio set with a few chairs and a couch in the middle which was quite nice for tea.

"That is my backyard, it's completely fenced in, so we don't have to worry about there being anyone back there when you go out," Suzy said, smilingly at the both of them. It was probably way past due that these guys went outside, even if it was just a backyard, but it was probably best to wait until after they got settled in. Suzy turned and pointed to a door on the right side of the room in the middle of the wall. The door was surrounded by lights and runes, as well as some random paintings and sketches that she must have stuck up.

"That's my room, so no ones allowed in there," She said with mock seriousness. 

"Aye aye, Captain," Arin said, saluting her. This immediately made her wonder if he had been in the outside world, saluting someone jokingly was a bit too common for him to have made up, he had to have gotten it from somewhere. But she just chuckled and planned to ask him about it later.

"I wouldn't dare," Dan said with a smile after she glanced at him.

"Well, that's the whole house then," Suzy said smiling and walking forwards. Dan immediately backpedaled away from the archway, slowing down just quick enough to not make it seem like an adverse reaction to somewhere walking towards him. Suzy had noticed though. He gave her a shy smile before averting his eyes and walking back into the living room. Everyone else following suit, going to the place they where sitting before.

"I don't have a guest room, but the shorter couch Dan is sitting on can turn into a bed, you just got to pull that black strap and it pops out, and the couch Ross and I are sitting on should be long enough for one of you. Oh, and the bathroom," She pointed to the door behind Dan, "Will be just for the two of you now, I've got one in my room,"

"I think that's about everything you guys have to know," Suzy said, she looked around for a second before picking up a tv remote from the side of the couch "Do you guys know how to run a tv?"

"It's been a while," Dan said, just as Arin said, "Yeah, you got any games?"

"You play?!" Ross said shocked, Arin laughed at his face from the kitchen stool "What do you play? How have you played?!" Arin thought for a moment.

"... I was treated a lot different than most captive shifters," Arin said, affecting his eyes, "I was, well, I'm worth quite a bit, I guess it had something to do with that,"

"Fur shifters are cared for better than fighters. They get feed better, they're given cleaner spaces, and all that cause traders want to keep the fur as pristine as possible, and Arin is pretty rare in the fur trade..." Dan said, mater of factly, then thought for a second, "It's probably worse than what fighters get really... you didn't get to do anything, just constant nothing, awaiting death," Suzy and Ross both paled a little.

"Yeah, but you had to fight to live, that had to have been terrible," Arin said,

"But I could fight death, you weren't given the chance," Dan responded quickly, looking up into Arins eyes. The first time he had done so. Arin noticed just how dark they were.

"But I was... I was never kept in little cages! I had tv and internet, I went outside for an hour a day, I was feed! Who cares if I was made to die when you were made to fight!" Arin said he seemed like he was getting a little angry, Suzy and Ross glanced to each other. They had no idea what to do.

"Who cares about the little cag-" Dan paused, the darkness in his eyes shrinking before he leaned back on the couch and just started laughing, "Are we arguing about who was treated worse- ha- how does that make any sense," Arin blinked at him than busted out laughing with him. Suzy and Ross became even more worried.

"How could we argue about that!" Arin managed to say, "We're practically family, in terms of trauma!"

"We were bought by the same asshole!" Dan laughed out,

"So we're like adopted brothers?" Arin said, trying to calm down his laughing,

"Dude, we can bond over our a**hole step-dad,"

"I'd be like if Cinderella had a sister, Ross is like the fairy godmother," Arin said in awe, Ross glared.

"Who's Cinderella?" Dan asked, quirking his scarred eyebrow.

"You have much to learn little brother," Arin nodded solemnly to him. They dissolved into another laughing fit.


	14. Youtube

"So you play a lot of Megaman?" Ross said, he had migrated out of the living room and was now sitting next to Arin on a stool in the kitchen. Dan and Suzy were pretending not to watch them.

"And Overwatch," Arin added.

"And Legend of Zelda?" Ross asked.

"Mostly Breath of the Wild," Arin said, "I like games that don't show you step by step what to do. I want full freedom. I want to be able to shoot the villagers if I dam well want to," He tapped his fist on the counter in an act of mock rebellion.

"You can't do that," Ross added.

"But I can throw chickens off cliffs, and what else could a man truly want?" Arin said, it almost seemed like he actually meant it.

"... You know a lot about games," Ross said. He seemed a little shell shocked.

"What else was I supposed to do In a room with a bed and a console? I got bored of JOing after the first 5 years," Arin said chuckling, "I tried animation, but I couldn't get very good software so I couldn't progress as much as I wanted and gave up,"

"Dude! I love animating, You can barrow some of my stuff if you want, and Suzy doesn't have any games so maybe you can barrow some stuff from the Space. We haven't done gameplay since Jon left, so you can probably just have it!" Ross said happily, pulling out his phone and writing some stuff down.

"The Space?" Arin asked, turning to Suzy.

"I knew I was forgetting something," Suzy sighed to herself, "Ross and I, and a few others, work- do you know what Youtube is?" Suzy asked. Arin nodded.

"I don't," Dan said, raising his hand a little.

"It's basically a site on the internet that you can put videos on, and if enough people watch them you can make money," Dan nodded in understanding, "Well, Ross and I work on a channel Jon started called Gamegrumps. It used to be mainly gameplay, but when it got bigger Jon realized he could turn it into something more. He- Jon is a human, but he's really passionate about the unnatural cause, so he thought if he hired only Unnaturals and had us in the videos and talking about everything it would teach people that we aren't some crazy mythical creatures out to hurt everyone. When the channel got big enough he handed it over to Barry, since he thought it wouldn't be much of an unnatural channel if a human owned it and now we run it all together," Suzy said smiling. Arin looked like he was about to pass out from amazement. Dan seemed vaguely confused.

"You guys are YouTubers?!" Arin said, his eyes wide, "I've always wanted to try that! I was going to post my animations on youtube, but they wouldn't let me! What do you post?!"

"It's about a third comedy, a third spread the word on unnatural, a third whatever random stuff me and Barry come up with," Ross said with a smile. Arin was starting to grow on him. Suzy was watching Arin. He was animatedly talking about video games, and animation with Ross, then to Dan. He was looking outside the window again, watching the world through a glass plane. Arin needed the freedom to do what he wanted, play video games and animate, and Dan needed to build up confidence around Arin and other people while the outside world needed to build up knowledge about them.

"I think I might have an Idea," Suzy said as all three sets of eyes turned to her, "What would you guys think about becoming YouTubers?"


	15. Угроза

"Really!?" Arin said, standing up quickly, Dan jumping in his seat but not saying anything otherwise.

"Yeah, I think it would be perfect," Suzy said excitedly, "You're obviously very good at video games, know a lot about the internet and how it works, and you both still need time adjusting to not being... where you were before you actually go out. And it might help you and Dan get more used to each other," She gestured to the 10+ feet that always separated them, "And it would spread the word about what you both have been through. Not many get out, and a lot of people think that the shifter trade isn't even real. You guys are living proof, you can save thousands just like you. All you need to do is post gameplay, are channel has been missing that for a while anyway," Suzy said a bit solemnly. Arin thought for a moment then turned to Dan.

"What do you think, brother-o-mine," Arin asked, Dan releasing surprised chuckle,

"Yeah, I'm not sure how good I'll be at the games, but I'll do it," Dan said with a smile.

"Have you ever played video games before?" Ross asked from the kitchen as he pulled some milk from the fridge.

"Yeah, but it's been a while," Dan said with a smile.

"You have? How?! Gosh, now I sound like Ross," Arin chuckled as Ross glared at him.

"Dam, it was so long ago," Dan leaned back and thought for a second, "When I was about 24 the guy who owned me at the time was in like crazy debt, like _crazy_ dept, and you do not what to know what they do to debtors in the shifter trade," Dan seemed a bit put off by it himself, as he froze for half a second and then continued "So he sold me to some rich guy in Russia, and in Russia, all bets are off on shifter. We have no rights, at all, like, I'm pretty sure I saw some guy walking a canine shifter on a leash at some point. So this rich guy who bought me gave me to his son. Turns out the rich guy is in the bratva, the Russian Mafia, and he thought his son needed a good bit of Hitman repellant,"

"You?" Arin asked, his eyebrow quirked as he listened intently to the story.

"No criminal worth his salt would go after someone with a shifter on his side, well I use side loosely but you know what I mean," Dan said with a chuckle,

"You hated him?" Arin asked.

"F*ck yes I did. That kid was an a**hole, a judgy Jason if I've ever seen one," Ross chuckled into his glass of milk, "But he was rich, and he was a rebellious teenager. So basically the only way to get back at his dad was to waste his investment. So here we have, rich teen and his multimillion-dollar guard dog high of there asses for a full year playing Morrowind. I verily had to do anything, he even let me stay in human form, only twice did assassins come after him, but you know... blah blah blah. All in all, I can play Morrowind. By the end of it, I'm pretty sure the dad liked me more than the son by the end of it," Dan said, forcing the story to an end and chuckling a little.

"So, what I'm getting here is you're part of the freaking Bratva!!?" Arin asked in awe, "What was it like! Did you where big fur coats? Do you have a mafia tattoo?" Dan laughed a little,

"Dude, look at this shit," Dan pulled up the side of his shirt, he had a mosaic. A mural running up the left side of his hip, up to just below where his ribs start. When you first glance at it all you see is a rose bush, delicately detailed and almost real looking black and white roses stretching up his side, but then you look closer.The roses Where all looked together with chains and manacles instead of stems and thorn, pulled taught with a few chinks and teaches in then hear and there. Throughout all of was a snake, weaving in and out of the bushes, almost delicately. It appeared to be almost smelling one of the flowers, but it must have been difficult for it since there was a dagger running through its neck and dripping blood onto a rose underneath it. It was truly a beautifully made tattoo, all the detail should have made it all muddy and ruined the composition, but it was perfect. Every feature so delicately added it seemed like it was meant to be. But it was all put to shame with what was very obviously two brands in the middle one reading рабский but it was crossed out. The other under it seemed to be just a bunch of random symbols.

They all looked it over for a minute, but all their eyes landed on the brands.

"What does it all mean?" Suzy asked, leaning forward to get a better look but backing off once she thought better of it.

"The roses mean I turned 18 in captivity and the chains mean I've spent more than 10 years behind bars. The snake- well that has to do with drug addiction, but I really don't think I was that bad considering everything and the dagger that was just for aesthetics I guess," Dan finish,

"What about the brands?" Arin asked he was the farthest away since ross had inched closer and was now standing only about 5 feet away from him. Dan ran his hand across the line over the first brand. 

"This one meant slave," It was right at the top of his hip, halfway on the skin above and halfway over the bone, "That one, that one hurt pretty bad," He laughed a little at the memory.

"The other?" Suzy asked,

"Now that's a trade secret," Dan said, with a small secretive smile, "I can't just go telling non-bratva members the secret codes, I might be kicked out," 

"Oh, come on. We already let the dagger thing go," Ross said, Dan kept his lips sealed smiling a little as he messed with him.

"My Mafia brothers would never forgive me, I must not," Dan said, "Now what were your other questions Arin? Did I wear big fur coats, was it?"


	16. Bologina

Time passed quicker than expected. Suzy was explaining the new additions to TV (apparently, you could just watch 'Netflix' now and there wouldn't be any commercials), and Arin was explaining to Ross the delicacies of why first-person shooters were so popular. In the middle of Suzy saying "so if you wanted to watch this show you just click this and bam, you're now watching episode one of Mick and Mort" Dan's stomach growled. It wasn't very loud but it was quiet enough in the room for Suzy to pause and look up to the clock on the wall.

"Oh shoot," Suzy muttered standing up, "We completely lost track of time. It's six, gosh you must be starving, Dan," Suzy said, hiring into the kitchen.

"I'm not that hungry I ate yesterday," Dan said with a shrug, messing with the remote and looking at different shows he could watch, pausing on a documentary about Music and its effect on Culture. Suzy gave him stern look.

"Don't tell me that. I know a tiger goes a week between eating, but you're not an animal," Suzy looked at him, her gaze softening before going back to looking in the fridge, "You don't have to eat like one," Dan couldn't seem to come with a good response, just staring at Suzy as she riffled through drawers. She turned around and gave him an apologetic smile.

"We just have to teach your body that," She pushed a pack of bologna and a raw steak onto the counter, "What would you prefer to test first? Processed food in your feline form, or inches away from raw steak in you're human form?"

"I forgot about the whole food thing," Arin said looking down at the options, tapping the Bologna and sniffing his air just a little, "I'll be serious here, that packaged stuff looks kinda gross,"

"That's bologna and Arin's right, it's extremely gross," Ross said with a nod, "I bet the steak thing will work. No need to shift, I would think," Ross nodded to himself once more. Some mischief pixie he was, he could verily manipulate someone into eating a steak.

"Uh-huh..." Suzy trailed off, as she gave Ross a disappointed stare, "So, what do you choose Dan,"

"I hate to say this, but I'm going with Ross. Let's try the steak first," He said from the couch, the documentary he was looking at before started playing automatically.

"Okay than steak it is. Near raw for Dan and Medium Rare for the rest of us?" She asked as she pulled out a few pans and got cooking.

"Sounds good to me Suz," Arin said as Ross nodded, Dan nodded as well. His attention had now shifted from the window to the man playing a guitar solo on the screen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!Ages and how the timeline works!!!
> 
> Dan is 34 (how old he was when he started working at gamegumps)
> 
> Arin is 25 (how old he was when gg started)
> 
> I wanted to change their ages because in my head for some reason I decided that shifters are considered full-grown at 25, so that why Arin was sold then.
> 
> Also, shifters live longer than humans, they stop aging drastically at 25 so Arin looks 25 and Dans looks about 26. 
> 
> also also, the year is 2020.
> 
> -So Arin and Dan, age 25 and 34, in the year 2020!-


	17. Violence

Both feline shifters sniffed subtly at the steak they were given. Eyeing it cautiously, something that didn't bother Suzy, it'd take time for them to become more comfortable, as they checked it out. 

Arin must have decided it was perfectly safe and took a large bite and Dan followed along, with a much smaller one. The plan was Dan would eat a few bites and wait a minute, if he was fine then he would finish the steak. So far so good.

"This is really good Suz!" Arin said after swallowing as he cut another bite out of his piece. Dan nodded in agreement as he ate another small bite.

"It's probably just the meat, it's hard to make steak taste bad," Suzy laughed a little as she cut up her own piece. 

"No, Suz! You're-," Arin paused as his eyebrows crinkled in confusion, Dan mimicked it as he turned away from his Documentary to face the door.

"What is it?" Ross just got finished saying through a mouthful of steak as the doorbell rang. Suzy stood and glanced out the window in the kitchen.

"It's a co-worker from Gamegrumps. He does the music and the contract stuff," Suzy said as she walked over to the door, "I'll tell him to come by later, he won't mind," She said as she opened it. The double doors opened to reveal a man with graying brown hair and blue eyes, he was average height and wearing a blue shirt and jeans. All of this combined made an extremely mundane looking man to the normal human, too an unnatural however it was very obvious he was the complete opposite. He oozed magic power, every part of him alight with mystical energy. On a whole other level than Suzy and Ross combined.

"Hey Suzy, I got your text and I di-" Brian paused, eyes widening, an extremely out of the ordinary expression for a man who rarely emotes at all. His blue eye drifted to the left, over Suzy's shoulder into the living room. Suzy hear a the click of a plate being set down and the telltale slide of a stool and patter of Ross scurrying into a different room. She turned to see Dan standing, about 6 feet away from her, having silently stood from the couch. His eyes were brimming with emotions, wide and dark and reflective. Disbelief pulling at his features.

"Brian," Dan said, quietly his voice cracking as he spoke, "I thought you where dead," Brian didn't seem to have a response, as Suzy stumbled back into the kitchen in shock. Brian blinked, opened his mouth, closed it, then blinked again, taking a single step into the house.

"I thought you died," The disbelief started shifting, Dan's iris overtaking sclera. The black overtaking white as shock turned to anger, Dan took a step forward. Only 4 feet away from each other, "You where dead,"

"You know that it's hard to kill me," Brian said, with the familiarity the comes with an old joke mostly covered by monotone surrealism in his voice. Dan rushed forward, pushing Brain back by the shoulders and into the door, slamming it closed in the process. Dan was audibly growling, his eyes fully black as he stared down at the shorter man.

"You never did believe me when I said that your first fight would get rid of your fear of violence," Brain said with no worry in his eyes, Dan growled louder, "Look at you now," 


	18. Surprise

"How could you do that to me Bri!?" Dan asked the low, feral growl cutting off as he spoke. Dan held Brian tightly, hands twisted in the fabric of his shirt as he kept him against the door.

"I tried to get you out, you think the raids happening at the same time was just a coincidence?" Brian said quietly. He was stiff, tense against the door staring up at Dan, but he didn't seem scared at all.

"I know you caused the damned collapse!" Dan shook Brian, pulling him closer and pushing him back to the door but not letting him hit it hard. Like he desperately wanted to hurt him but couldn't, "But you left me! Time and time again! You said you'd get me out and you never did! Your f*cking friends did, and it wasn't even you're plan! They just happened by and got me out, something you couldn't do in 23 years"

"You're not just some kitten, with only a week's time in a ring, you're Blackeye! The Shadow! Death's Best Freind! Угроза!" Brian's quiet shock was shifting, his eyes glowing a fiery blue as he got angrier, "It's not easy to get to the most famous feline in the whole world, Dan! I've found you so many times but I could never get you out, then after the Bratva you just disappeared!"

"You an all-powerful demon, as you always liked reminding me, but you couldn't free one-," Dan paused having only a moment to look vaguely confused before he threw up next to him, "Well, that ruins the mood," Dan said with a sigh, dropping Brian. 

"Suzy, the steak thing didn't work," Arin said as he sat at the kitchen counter, not seeming very bothered at all by this. Suzy was frozen in shock and Ross was nowhere to be seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed the one year he was with Watt back to five. Future writers, this is why you plan a character's backstory before you start the story, so you can avoid changing it back and forth.


	19. Back, fourth

Everyone was now 'happily' seated in their preferred chair. Dan on the smaller couch alone, Suzy and Brian sharing the larger one, Arin on a kitchen stool, and Ross cowering around the corner in Suzy's magic room.

"So..." Suzy said, glancing between Brian and Dan, both their eyes still blazing angrily. When Suzy looked to Dan he was quick to shift his gaze away, focusing on the arm of the couch. Looks like it was up to Brian, she thought, changing her stare to him, "How do you guys know each other?" Suzy asked, Arin chuckled quietly behind her.

"We meet in New Jeresy," Brian said. Dan's constant low rumbling growl clipped off as he stifled a laugh.

"You make it sound so normal," Dan said with an eye roll, the black shrinking away a tad.

"Well, it's true," Brian said, gesturing sharply, "We were in New Jersey when we first talked. That's called meeting,"

"Can't argue with you there," Dan said, relenting, "Bri and I meet in New Jersey," He said with a firm nod.

"Care to elaborate any further than that?" Suzy asked, glad to see they had calmed down at least a little.

"That is a very long story," Brian said quietly from beside her, "Starting about thirty years ago,"

-

Brian was quietly pacing his cage. Always pacing. Back and forth, back and forth, back, and forth. Five steps one way and five steps the other for days and days, and nights, and nights that might have been days. Brian didn't know, there were no windows, no lights. Brian just paced and paced as he thought and planned. He was running out of ideas.

The door to the room his cell was kept in flew open, the ethereal blue glow of his demonic eyes shining like a cat's for a moment before the light spread across the whole room, forcing him to blink the pain away. I'd been two days since someone had entered, not that Brian could keep track. Two men and a woman stepped into the room, the men both holding one end of a small metal crate. They were talking, loudly and angrily.

"Just put him in the other cage!" The woman said, as she quickly unlocked the door, "I can't stand having these little beasts," She said as the men brought the crate to the door. It took a moment for the too-bright room to come into focus for Brian, the brightness fighting against his perfect night vision. Once the bright room was clear he finally saw what was happening. There was a new arrival to his only room. A little boy, fighting against the men, doing everything in his power to get away, to get out of the cage, "Get him in there, quickly, before he gives on of you rabies!"

"Yes, ma'am," Said one of the men, as he tossed him into the cage. The little boy hit the wall with a thud, slumping to the ground as his black curly hair covered his face.

"I hope he shifts early, raising another one will be the death of me, I swear," She murmured, eyes shifting up to Brian winding slightly like she had forgotten he was there. That she paid to feed him, paid to own him just so she could tap his blood once a week and sell it to some warlock in need of some potent demon blood.

"Oh, Brian baby, I do hope you'll take good care of him," She said, gently, almost motherly, as she ran her hand down the new arrivals cage, "Little Leigh's worth quite a bit so do be nice to him, make sure he'll be ready when his fighting days come," Brian knew she wasn't serious, she just liked talking. Hearing her own voice as she raked in all the money she could get from them. Brian, and now Leigh, where her long term investments. Money to fall back on if a deal went through or if one of her goons couldn't get a hold of a valuable trinket in time to pay the bills. They where just something she owned, a toy, that she could get rid of any way she wanted when the mood struck her. That is why Brian just nodded, relieved when she smiled and all of them left the room. Brian's night vision took a few moments to return fully and the first thing he saw was the large black eyes of the boy watching him warily.


	20. Leigh

His eyes glowed faintly purple in the dark, the reflective sheen showing like a cat. He probably couldn't see near as well as Brian could, because his was based more on natural elements and Brian's was pure magic and hellfire. The glowing blue eyes shifted to look at the young boy, who was slowly scooting himself into the corner of the cage. He was young, three or four maybe, much younger than Brian was when he got here. The purple glow watched Brian, the only color Brian could see in the greyscale that darkness brought to his vision. A welcome relief after a year of constant grey and black. Brain thought for a moment, then slowly walked to the corner of the cage that was closest to the boy.

The cages weren't large, but big enough to fit a toilet, a sink, and an extra ten square feet so that larger residents could fit comfortably. The two cages were separated with a hallway about ten feet wide so someone coming to check the stock could safely walk through. Everything about it made it seem like a normal prison cell except for the bars. Made of pure silver, carved with ancient runes, thrice blessed, and lined with an inch of salt al around the outside. They were made to hold creatures stronger than Brian could ever dream of being at this age, and by the claws and burn marks covering the room he could tell they had.

Brian gently, being as casual and nonthreatening as he possibly could, slid down the bars of the corner of the cell and sat, the runes lit hazily with white light but dulled when no attack came. Brian glanced at the kid, who was now about 15 feet away and waited. He was shivering, shying away from the closeness of the silver but not willing to move out of the small cave that the sink, cement wall (also lined with runes) and bars made. The child didn't make any move to speak, just curled up and held his knees tightly to himself. It looked like he had been wearing the same clothes for at least a few days, a pair of tattered jeans and a blue t-shirt with a guitar on it couple and smatters of blood.

"Hello," Brian whispered out into the darkness, he heard the kid shift suddenly in surprise, "I'm Brian Wecht, what's your name," Brian didn't look at his direction, he knew the glowing could scare him, so he just patiently stared at the other wall and waited. The room was motionless for five minutes.

"Leigh Daniel Avidan," He heard quietly drift through the silence.

"That's a cool name," Brian said, and he couldn't help but smile. This is the best conversation he had had in a year. One that didn't end in violence, or mockery, or sickly sweet nicknames and 'motherly love'.

"People call me Dan, sometimes" He heard, glancing to his left as he heard the voice. Dan had scooted a bit closer.

"It's nice to meet you, Dan. Do you like the guitar?" Brian asked, turning to face Dan and sit cross-legged. The two young boys watching each other intently as the tension slowly drifted from the room.

"Yes, my Mom is gonna buy me one for my birthday," He said as he shifted to copy Brian's position, but a tad farther from the bars.

"Wow, I've never played the guitar, my dad made me take piano lesson though," Brian smiled sadly at Dan at the mention of their parent but didn't want to stop the flow.

"Really! That's awesome! Are you good?" He seemed excited.

"Pretty okay, I think," Brian said, thinking about all the wasted time in class

"When I get my guitar we'll start a band, okay?" Dan's timid nature seeming to almost vansh, the traumas of capture hiding behind the sheen of anticipation.

"Yeah! that'd be the best!" Brian laughed, the first one in a year.


	21. Green eggs

"Okay, so now what does this say?" Brian asked as he held the piece of paper up. Dan squinted at it.

"F- Fo... Fox! It says fox" Dan said excitedly, jumping and fist-bumping the air as dan nodded that it was right. Brian quickly erased the letters and wrote something different in large letters on the paper.

"Okay how about thi-" Brain was cut off when the door opened, flooding the room with light. Both the unnaturals shielded their eyes, wincing from a week in the darkness.

"Not again," Dan complained.

"Shut it!" One man said as he walked into the room, followed by three more and the owner, "Tranc it," The man pointed at Brain. Brian closed his eyes and cringed away as he sat on the ground.

"Don't!" Dan called, pacing the cage, wanting to jump and reach fro one of the guy, but knowing the consequences of touching the bars. One of the men pointed the dart gun and shot, hitting Brian in the arm. Almost immediately Brian tipped back and went down, narrowly missing hitting his head on the bars, but still cracking it on the concrete.

"Oh, it's okay Leigh, he'll be back in just a bit," Said their owner, Dan had come to learn her name was Boss. She had long straight blond hair, that she always wore in a ponytail that made her sharp face look tight. She was tall, and thin, and always carried a gun on her hip, and she always _always_ acted like Danny and Brian where her pet dogs. Her green eyes watched Dan with a look the was parallel to love, like the look some people give pile of money.

"I know," He whimpered, quietly, he was scared of her. Everything about her scared him, "But it's so quiet and dark when he is gone, and when he gets back he just sleeps all day," Dan wasn't facing her, his body turned away, just shy of having his back to her. The door of Brians cell opened and Dan heard him being dragged out, Brian was small, like Dan, so he wasn't hard to move.

"Oh, I know, baby," She said, running her hand down the bars, a glint in her eye that no one could identify, "He'll be just fine, don't you worry. I'll send him back with a treat though, some more paper! Or a book maybe? Perhaps a blanket, it's getting cold outside again?" She looked around appraisingly, and waited, she shrugged when Dan didn't answer, "Whatever, get him loaded boys?!"

"Yes, boss,"

"Then why are we still here?"

* * *

Brian was sent back with a blanket, a book about a man who loved rotten ham, and a pile of blank paper tossed on his unconscious body.


	22. Imperfect plan

"Okay, now run to that side- Now back!- never mind go the otherwa- no go back! Do a cartwheel, now jump three times! I said three times, not four!" Brian called from his side of the room, trying to give him a bit of exorcize.

"Brian," Dan said, gasping for breath as he ran back and forth around the cell, "how long till we can leave?" Dan stopped moving as the orders stopped sounding.

"I don't know, you'll probably leave when you shift," Brian answered thoughtfully.

"When will that be?" Dan said as he plopped down onto the ground.

"Most shift at 16, I think, sometimes older, I guess," There weren't many shifters where Brian lived before, but he didn't think that far to remember. He didn't like to remember that far.

"You'll leave with me, right, cause we're gonna start the band when we get out!" Dan smiled a little, hope in his little eyes.

"...no, they- they probably won't let me go, at least not for a long time," Brian looked away and rubbed the needle marks covering his arms.

"What!? No- they-!!" Dan shot, up the most determined Brian had ever seen fell across his face, "We have to escape,"

"We've talked about this before, Da-"

"No, Brian, they hurt you! I want that to stop!" Dan said as he paced the cage, looking so close to the fierce cat shifter he was going to be that it made a prickle of instinctual danger signs run down his spine. Warning him of a potential threat nearby that Brian immediately ignored.

"It won't work, Dan!" Brian said, losing his patience, "The bars are too strong, I can't pass them, you can't even touch them! What are we going to do? Dig our way out?! Call for help? There's nothing!"

"There is not nothing," Dan said confidently and lowly, so low that Brian expected a growl, "Someday I'll shift, and when I do I won't tell anyone. A few days later I'll pretend to be sick and they'll make a doctor come in, like they did with you. I'll shift, escape and get you out,"

"Dan," Brian sighed, "You- you don't even understand what shifting his,"

"Yes I do!" He said indignatly, crossing his arms, "It's when I turn into a big cat!"

"Yes, that's true. But the first time- the first time you shift it will hurt, and you won't be able to be hide it. They'll be waiting when you get to that age and they'll be ready,"

"Than I'll shift early! Super soon, just you wait!!" Dan said as he sat in the corner, and scrunched up his face and looked, frankly, like he was taking a poop. Brain laughed loudly and Dan glared at him.

"Dan, seriously. You don't want to shift early," Brian said with a sad sigh as the anger and humor left him. He guest this was as best time as ever to tell him.

"Why?" Dan asked.

"Becuause- because... when you shift bad thing'll happen. The boss will either sell you or make you fight other shifters till you kill them or you die," Brain said, not daring to look at Dan right now.

"What? How- wh- why would they do that?"

"Humans like to watch shifter kill each other. I don't know why," Brian said, running his hand through his too long hair.

"I don't want to kill anyone," Dan said meakly.

"I know, but you have to. I don't want to see you die, just like you don't like to see me hurt. You have to do that for me, fight and live," Brian stared at him serioculy, "You have to live so that you can keep you side of the deal," 

"What deal?"

"If you escape, you find me and get me out, and if I get out I'll find you and get you out. Okay? So we both have to live, no matter what!" Brian said, smiling, his lip quizered. Tears leaking from his eyes. He was lying, he new they didn't have a chance. He had been here for three years and never seen the light of day. Never seen an opening, but he had to make sure Dan would fight when the time came, he _had_ too.

"Brian, I don't like hurting people, it would be scary," Dan said shivering.

"Once you're in a ring you'll know what to do. You won't be scared, you'll do just fine. I know it," Brian hoped that was the truth, he really did.

"Okay," He didn't seem like he believed him, "Deal. If you escape you get me out, and if I escape I'll find you. Then we'll get a guitar and a piano," Dan was crying, as he mimed shaking his hand at the same time Dan did. At this moment Brian realized that he had never once touched Dan, and that in all reality he probably never would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow... that was sad. I was not expecting that, I'm almost crying.
> 
> Well, thanks for reading!!!


	23. Watt

"I forgot about the band," Dan said as he looked at the paused documentary on the tv.

"You where young, I don't expect you to remember that," Brian said with a sigh, "You were strangely passionate about it though, every week it was band that and piano this,"

"True, that was a pretty stupid dream," Dan said, and Brian seemed like he was about to say something but was cut off, "I wasn't thinking high enough back then, what about a keyboard guitar?" Dan said, pointing at the screen, showing a man playing the instrument. Brain looked shocked for just a second, before bursting out laughing.

"I haven't practiced in years," Brian said chuckling.

"And I've never played, what a great band it will be!" Dan, looked like he was holding back laughter, and while it broke Suzy's heart to ruin this moment she had to ask a question.

"How old where you both, back with- Dan, I'm sorry to say this but I don't think her name was Boss," Suzy said, trying to dispel the awkwardness of interrupting them.

"We don't know that, could have been Boss, could have been Sir I guess, but I don't think so," He was avoiding the question, or maybe he just didn't know the answer.

"I don't know how old Dan was, but he was probably about three or four, I was ten when he arrived," Brian said, thinking back for a moment, no doubt thinking of little Audrey. 

"Where where you before," Ross asked from his totally not a hiding spot.

"I was actually from New Jersey," Brian answered.

"I don't know, I verily even remember getting to the shelter- they uh- they call places who trade magic creature shelters sometimes-" Dan, said cutting himself off to explain.

"You had an accent back when you first arrived, I just thought it was because you were young back then,"

"I did?! From were," Dan said, looking up at Brian, a bit of hope in his eyes.

"Hebrew, from Israel maybe," Brian said, Dan leaning back as he thought about it.

"There's a huge shelter there, you know, I've been there a few times now," Dan said, a weird regret taking over his expression.

"Yeah, I looked there a couple of time," Brian sighed out, "... where were you, Dan, after the Bratva,"

"In England, near London," Dan answered. Brian's eyebrows scrunched together as he though.

"There's nothing there. No trading, or fighting, wha-"

"Watt doesn't do that kinda stuff, he just like the- the I don't know, he just like feline shifter," Dan said with a huff, then his eyes widened as he looked to Suzy.

"You did get him arrested didn't you?" He asked with a desperate hope in his dark eyes.


	24. Not an Update

Hello all. I have not updated in quite a while, as you all (all two of you) have probably noticed. I will finish this fic eventually, it's just hard to make time, as you know.

Recently, on episode 35 of Mario at 23:10, Dan and Arin stated they do not like NSFW fan stuff about them.

I'd like to say I 100% respect that and nothing sexual will be added. I had never even considered adding it in the first place, not even Arin and Suzy dating, but I thought I should say that upfront.

Dan and Arin have not said that they do not like fics about them in general, so I will be continuing this one until they do. If they do say something similar I will end the fic with a summary of what I was planning and that will be that.

Thanks for reading, and thanks Arin and Dan for being such cool dudes!


	25. Drawings

I drew the grumps in tiger form, just because. Sorry that it's not too great, I just did it for fun.

\-----

This is Dan. I tried to make him look kinda skinny, but probably failed

\-----

This is Arin. Sorry that I made his head too small.

\-----

This is just to get an idea of what they look like together and how tall they are. I put the average height of the tiger in there too. The last image's ink bleed threw onto Arin, so sorry about that.

\-----

And that's that :)


End file.
